Do Not Break
Do Not Break is an animesque series about a mythological creature, Gisei, being hunted down by the world for her powers. Whoever kills her will be granted a wish, and merely harming her will give temporary good luck. One night, tipsy scholars see her walking and confirm her powers to work in the presence of lurkers, which soon spawns mobs of people chasing her down. A teenage boy sympathizes with her and tries to shelter her from the world gone mad, but this ruins his life as well; and he can no longer trust his family and friends. The series was conceived in July of 2019, but nothing has been published and its future layout is uncertain. Characters Gisei Gisei is a woman of inconceivable age. She's the last of her species, called Blessings, and the last of what can be considered a "mythological creature". The mythological used to exist together with normal people and animals, but were eradicated from existence as result of the Blessings killing themselves at one point in time; Gisei's kind is valuable because of their ability to grant wishes, though the method of acquiring this wish asks a person to give up their morality and kill the Blessing. The first hit will never be lethal and has to be purposely repeated. No matter the severity of the wound inflicted on them, they'll come back to life an hour later, but this isn't without pain. The Blessings couldn't deal with their own existence, and after years of being exploited, the majority decided to take their own life and be done with it. Suicide is the only way a Blessing can die. While their death gives a wish to the perpetrator, Blessings that kill others are punished. Like a curse, an entire category of something will be fully erased from reality, as if it never existed. This made it dangerous for Blessings to defend themselves and forced them to be a peaceful race. While their mass-suicide counted as murder and many flora, fauna, and laws of nature disappeared with them, they still settled with this sacrifice as one-time payment for their "freedom". Gisei was one of the last ones standing and helped spread the story of the truths lost for the remaining intelligent species, the human race, to ponder about, ensuring they wouldn't be forgotten. Humans turned these bits of information into fairy tales and legends. The Blessings themselves aren't directly recognized in any books, but the practise of human sacrifice refers to them. By the time Gisei finished, she realised the world had been rid of most creatures she once deemed a threat and wasn't being pursued anymore. The human race had fallen in love with the non-existent creatures reintroduced to them and started telling stories about them, turning the Blessings into a forgotten species. This allowed Gisei to change plans and refrain from taking her life, despite learning the others had already done so and she was now alone. Her lived experiences made it challenging to fully enjoy her freedom. Originally from American soil, her travels took her to Japan, where she stayed and made use of its secluded mountains as not to stand out. When the world started to modernize, privacy became hard to maintain and Gisei believed she'd look less suspicious if she moved to a city. Since Blessings were forgotten, she comfortably readapted her species' ancient hair style in their honour, which one day drew the attention of a group of scholars. While not yet convinced she was a Blessing, they showed interest in her choice of fashion. She answered their inoffensive questions and told them not to be a scholar herself, but her response to their seemingly random utterings of swear words in her language fed their suspicion. Enthralled by her, they faked an accidental wounding and tested if they'd acquired the boost of luck the mythical texts talked about. One of them boldly launched himself off a hazardous bridge and confirmed it to be true. Gisei ran off, but their interaction had an audience of street punks who quickly shared the insanity they witnessed. The story spread fast in the criminal world. The existence of a wish-granting woman was hard to believe, and a bored mob boss decided to ambush and kill Gisei to prove the rumors wrong, yet found his wish being granted. Thinking the dead Gisei worn out her use, she was dumped in the ocean and a witness reported her death to the authorities. But when she was spotted walking around the next day, a series of events and realisations from all sides spawned mobs of people chasing her down. Gisei's immortality is used to downplay the act of murdering her, and even normal every-day people get enticed to join the chase. When even law enforcement can't resist abusing her and she's continuously kidnapped and murdered, she realises there's again no place to turn to. After the torture and many moments of betrayal, she comes across a boy who offers his help, which the mentally exhausted Gisei ends up taking. Expecting him to abuse her in her weakened state, Daisuke cares for her instead and the two become friends. While they greatly care for each other, she regrets letting him get involved. Gisei is skinny, dark-skinned, and has long brown hair. ---- Daisuke Daisuke is a studious boy of 18 years old, who comes across Gisei at the peak of her popularity. When he found her, he urged her to come to his room, though had trouble convincing her of his genuineness after everything that aspired. He kept her hidden in his apartment and cared for her, though Gisei made clear not to expect his efforts to pay off, since he was her only ally. It took a mere week for Daisuke to be ratted out by the watchful residents of his flat, and the boy was unable to fight the intruders coming for her. She escaped through the window and gave her friend a hint where to meet up, but upon seeing her again, she was beaten within an inch of her life. Gisei instructed him to kill her in order to reset her damaged body, and use the opportunity to make a wish. Daisuke was disgusted by the request, but obeyed, and wished for long physical endurance in order to help her better. He then gave her a disguise and took her to his village of birth for safety, though it became clear that even his childhood friends and family showed a disconcerting amount of interest in her and her presence couldn't be shared with them. Daisuke admits to have been in love with Gisei since her face was revealed on television, though his decision to help her is on basic humanitarian grounds. He's inherently generous, kind and collected, but becomes a nervous wreck after all the trauma he goes through. Despite this, he refuses to leave her side. Daisuke's a chubby, neatly-dressed boy with black wavy hair. Trivia * Daisuke dislikes Gisei's name, which is Japanese for "sacrifice", and calls her Giselle instead. * The series' theme song is "Break the Silence" by RMB. See Also * Blessing Category:Original content Category:Series